Family

My Good Friend Katie sent this to me, and I am guilty of this with my kids! I printed and taped it up in my kitchen so I can always remember how important my family is to me!!! Hope you enjoy F A M I L Y I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply. He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.' We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said goodbye. But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. 'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken. While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said, 'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.' By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed; 'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said. 'Are these the flowers you picked for me?' He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree. I picked 'em because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.' I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.' He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway.' I said, 'Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

Feeling so unqualified to be a Mother

I am having one of those days, where I wonder how in the world do they let people become parents without some kind of class, or a series of classes for that matter. I mean you have to have like, at least 6 years of school to be a teacher, 8 to be a psychologist, why not an hour twice a week for parents?? Really, when it comes right down to it, being a parent is the MOST important job we will ever do. Not to discredit teachers, or counselors, or even the President(who in my opinion, could probably use some refresher courses in a few subjects, but that is a whole 'nother blog), but being a parent is really an investment into the future of our world.

My 7 year old sweet, good hearted boy is struggling with something, and he won't talk to me or his Dad about it. How do I pull it out of him? How do I ease his mind, and calm his fears? Haven't I done a good enough job up to this point, that he knows he can come to me with anything?? My heart is heavy and I want to take what ever he is feeling and make it go away or put it upon myself. I wonder if it is school, friends, me?? The not knowing is making me psycho crazy, and I know I can not force him to tell me, but I really really really want too!! I feel his spirit is missing, he is so bogged down with school then homework, I feel he needs some fun, but my suggestions fall on deaf ears.

I have such mixed feelings about school these days. I wonder of the importance of reading and writing, and math over self-confidence, being true to oneself, forming loving and positive relationships, and just plain RESPECT for students and who they are. I feel like children are not allowed to be children anymore. They are expected to sit for hours quietly, when their bodies and minds are not yet developed enough for that. (Sometimes I think I am not developed enough either, ever sit through a 3 hour movie in a movie theater?) Recesses are shorter than 10 years ago, PE is once a week instead of 3 times a week or even everyday. Kids are tested and marked for the rest of their school life based on WASL tests they take starting in the 3rd grade. A STANDARD test for EVERY student even ones in special circumstances, or with special needs!! Really ? When did my kids become standard, do I even want my kids to be considered standard?????? I wonder when schools became so big on testing and so poor on fun? Of course it all comes back to money(doesn't everything), government gives schools with rising test scores more money. How government even gets associated with teaching my children is beyond me.

Why are kids given a standard for which they must know and learn, and why is it the same for every child? What happened to creative teaching, adjusting it as the Teacher sees fit to the individual student. What happened to fun games to learn your Math, or grammar? Schools have become such a pencil to paper, endless worksheet, do not blurt out the answer in class, sit still, DO NOT HAVE ANY FUN, we aren't going to teach you anything that you can touch, or feel or make your lives richer, just sit down shut up and write these sentences over and over kind of environment. I want my child to be an individual, I do not want him to be like everybody else. I want that for all of my children. Aren't our lives so great because we have family, friends, neighbors that are different than us, and enrich our lives with their differences. I feel if a child starts to doubt himself at this very young age, that is something that will stick with him through the rest of his life. If you stomp on a child's spirit again and again, if you don't allow him to be who he is, he loses the one thing we all want for our children, a sense of self, self-confidence to stand up for himself, and love for himself and others. It is much easier to teach a child to read, or write, then to relearn how to love themselves.

That went on a crazy tangent but I feel a little better getting it all out! :) Thanks for listening!

So it begins......................

Well I have held out as long as possible, BUT I have finally been vetoed! Nick's parents bought Dylan and Cade a four-wheeler!! YIKES!! They went over there this weekend to ride it, and both did a really good job! Of course Dylan enjoys it a lot more than Cade, but Cade rode it with Nick and said it was "Totally Awesome"!! They couldn't get Dylan off the thing he was on it all weekend, and even rode it so much it broke down yesterday(needs a minor fix). Here are some pictures of the boys and Nick 4wheelin it up!!

And my wise advice of the day Life Gives to the Giver, and Takes from the Taker. Cheers!

Seahawks Sunday

Nick turned 30 last Friday and his present from my parents was going to the Seahawks game on Sunday!! We had amazing seats 7 rows up on the 10 yard line behind the Seahawks bench!! I just wish they would have won!!! It was a beautiful day and we had a blast anyway!!

Meanwhile Dylan and Cade were lucky enough to go to Shrek the Musical down at the 5th avenue theater. My Mom took them, along with my aunt Sue and their cousin Chloe. It was 3 hrs long, and My Mom said Cade didn't move once!!! He was enthralled the entire time!! I guess I need to get him into some musical theatre, and some dance classes, cause that boy can MOVE!!! Kendyll spent the day with my Dad, and they went to the beach and searched for shells, she had a blast and as soon as they got in the car, fell asleep. Dad drove around for 1.5 hrs to keep her asleep, and he even changed her poopy diaper for the first time!!! :)

Dylan started flag football this week, and is psyched about it. He got some new cleats and is convinced he runs twice as fast in them!! :) He really likes his coach, and his friend from school Jack Hamilton is on his team.

On a Not appropriate side note, but just too funny not to tell, Nick and Kendyll were playing the other night, and she was "brushing" his hair (shaved head), and she dropped the comb, and said "OH F@ck"! Nick went WHAT and she said it again. WHOOPS the only one who says that is Daddy, so he got a first hand account of what happens when he doesn't watch his mouth!!! HEHE at least it wasn't s#!t my choice word!!!!

Summer Fun

We had so much fun this summer, it went by way too fast!! We took our annual trip to Lake Chelan where all three kids were swimming machines!! We went to the fair and had a blast there as well! Dylan and Cade "camped" out in the back yard as well. Here are some pictures from Summer 08

Dylan 2nd Grader, and Cade's first day of Kindergarten

Back to school!! Dylan is such a pro, He loves 2nd grade and his teacher! He is excited that he gets his OWN DESK!! Such a big boy now!! He starts flag football next week, I am so blessed to have such a fantastic boy!

Cade had is first day of Kindergarten Thursday. We were VERY nervous, me more than him, until we got to school, then he got pretty scared. I had a really hard time just leaving him, but I knew I had to do it, or he would never feel better. His teacher is such a wonderful Kindergarten teacher, they spent their first day on a treasure hunt of the entire school with clues and prizes, so they could get acquainted with bathrooms, nurses station, Principal's office, music room etc. He was overjoyed with it, and told me all about the two girls in his class that had the same face and hair and shirt(twins). His friend Kate from preschool is in a different class than his, but he found her every recess and they played together with Dylan who found his little brother every recess and his friends! What a SUPER big brother. My heart swells with pride when I think of Dylan looking for Cade so he can help him around school!! Cade informed me that he will go back to kindergarten because it was fun! I am glad that he thinks he had a choice!! :)

Kendyll is very bummed she doesn't get to go to school yet, so we pretend at home!!